FCC Again Delays Internet Phone Cutoff

The Federal Communications Commission backed off again Tuesday on enforcing a deadline for Internet phone service providers to disconnect all customers who haven’t acknowledged that they understand it might be hard to reach a live emergency dispatcher when dialing 911.

The agency explained that the status reports required from every Internet phone company last week showed that by “repeatedly prompting subscribers through a variety of means, the majority of providers ... have obtained acknowledgments from nearly all, if not all, of their subscribers.”

The decision came a day before a deadline that would have required Internet phone companies to cut off at least 10,000 of the estimated 2.7 million users of the service in the United States.

The FCC said providers that had received confirmations from at least 90% of their subscribers would no longer face the disconnection requirement, but still must continue seeking the remaining acknowledgments.

All carriers below the 90% threshold will have until Oct. 31 to reach that level and avoid the disconnection requirement.

Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest carrier with more than 1 million subscribers, said Monday that 99% of its customers had responded. But that meant about 10,000 accounts stood to be shut off as early as today.

The deadline was intended as an interim safeguard while Internet phone companies rush to comply with another FCC order that they add full 911 capabilities by late November.